Shepard's Recruitment Methods
by TheColdSpaghetti
Summary: My probably pretty average first entry into the Mass Effect series, just fleshing out my universe with this first story, so hope y'all can enjoy meeting my OC and reading my first Mass Effect story. This is just how my OC entered the company of Commander Shepard, it's got bad humour, Krogan crushing and made up alien races. Codex at the bottom.


Shepard's Recruitment Methods

Mike and I had been hanging around in the lower wards, people watching and drinking. Generally just enjoying ourselves, maybe ripping off the odd vendor, maybe even releasing an AI into the Citadel's systems (keep mind of the maybe.) Regardless, the minding of our own business turned into the getting the fuck out of the way as a fiery red head and her asari and turian companions started a firefight in the section of the wards we had been in. The Asari caught my eye straight off the bat, because damn, she was fine. Regardless, the redhead turned to me and Mike now, after having disposed of a Krogan and a couple of Turians. "You didn't see this." I glanced at Mike, shrugged, raised my bottle and let the words "Yes ma'am" slip my lips.

I thought that was it, but it wasn't meant to be, as a day later she came looking for me while I was getting a bullet removed from my chest (which was a totally unrelated incident which we'll not talk about), the poor doctor operating on me must have been terrified as this redhead came demanding to see me. As soon as I woke up, I noticed the redheads Asari companion standing over me. "Um, hi?" Her cheeks flushed with colour, and she looked away from me. Confused, I sat up and checked the time, it was well past when I was supposed to wake up. "So I'm guessing this isn't just a friendly check in?" Swinging my legs out of bed and stretching my wings as the redhead closed the door. "Clearly not just a social visit. Murder? Nah, seems too mainstream for you. Doubt it's a threat, since your Asari is the one nearly quaking in her boots. Gotta say I'm curious." The Redhead looked to her companions, as I shuffled my way to my clothes, which were neatly stacked on a nightstand on the other side of the room. "Jesus, you talk a lot, no, we aren't here for any of those things, and I'm sure if we were, we would have done it by now." The Redhead was a bit snarky, kind of challenging in her tone, and my lips quirked at the opportunity, but before I could open my mouth, the purple cheeked Asari cut me off "I apologize for my companions tone, she is quite stressed." I was impressed by the shaky Asari's tone of confident awkward, but turned my eyes to the Turian as I threw on my pants. "So, Scales, I haven't heard from you yet. Tiks, I haven't talked to a Turian since the war. Or was it after I turned an eighth of your forces on you? Who knows." Scales seemed to take the insult in his stride, an impressive feet considering nearly every Turian I had ever met had been offended by that in some small way (or large way, but that doesn't need to be talked about.) "I have to say Benjamin, turning a well respected Admiral on us was a pretty good move, and the name is Garrus before you get 'Scales' stuck in your head." My eyebrows shot up as I threw on my shirt at the compliment, from a Turian of all people. "Well… Thanks I guess, gotta say though, holding a grudge against you guys isn't that easy when you give me sweet compliments like that. Now, who're the rest of you?" I'm sure the Redhead looked familiar, and so did the Asari, but I couldn't put my finger on either of their names. The human looked visibly surprised, and I still didn't recognize her. "I'm Commander Shepard, the First Human Spectre. How could you not know me?" __Oh so that's where I know her from.__ "Truth be told Commander, can I call you Shepard? I'm gonna call you Shepard. Truth be told Shepard, I've been a little out of the loop. The last time I was on the Citadel was to assassinate some arms dealer, and that was over ten years ago now, and I was pretty drunk yesterday when you were shooting up the wards, so yeah, I haven't been much paying attention to galactic news." Finishing dressing, I walked over to my bed and sat back down, as Shepard began pacing a little. "I am Liara T'soni. I too have been out of the loop. I was working on an archeology dig when Shepard found me." Liara had moved away from the bed, and over to Garrus where she clearly felt a little more comfortable. I knew the name T'soni too, I just couldn't put my name on it, and as Shepard stopped pacing, and Garrus shifted in his spot leaning against the wall, I recalled where I knew it. "Archeology huh? Protheans and stuff right? Pretty impressive stuff to be honest." Her blue face turned a light shade of purple again. "But before we continue, T'soni, as in Benezia T'soni, right?" This time, Shepard responded instead of my intended target. "Actually, Ben, that's why we're here. We need to talk to you about Benezia T'soni. We know you've worked with her extensively semi-recently and we need to know everything, it's for a Spectre investigation." I frowned, the last time I had talked to Benezia had been a hundred years ago, back when I was young and dumb, and I stated this to Shepard. Her eye ticked and she began pacing and talking to herself, as Garrus and Liara shuffled awkwardly, clearly not knowing what to do to help their leader. "Fuck it Anderson, you've sent us on a real goose chase this time. First you send us to a volus agent of the Shadow Broker, then to the daughter of Benezia T'soni who knows nothing, and you're other closest lead is an assassin who hasn't spoken to her in around a hundred years. Goddamnit Anderson. Fucking Saren." She sounded kind of like she'd lost it- "Wait, Saren? I know that piece of shit. Yeah, had an assignment to take him down a while back. Couldn't find him, found his base, stole a heap of his data, even his nifty new spaceship and pet krogan." Shepard's face raised, a flicker of hope running through her, as the other two leaned forward in anticipation. "While as an Assassin I guess? Doesn't matter. What do you know about Saren, his spaceship, literally whatever you can tell us. Please." Shepard didn't seem so bad after all. "First of all, I'm not an assassin, but I was in a really dodgy special forces branch of the Aviant military for a bit, and I did some dodgy things, but that's not the point. Look, I'm going to be straight with you Shepard, I don't know how much of this stuff I can tell you in public. Seriously, there's some pretty crazy shit. I've got a proposition though, I doubt you'll like it but, well, it's kind of you best option." Shepard did not seemed enthused by this. "Just give me a minute to think about it and talk with my companions." I smiled and nodded, and in my ear LiLi's voice came through. _"_ _ _Ben, I pulled some information on Shepard. I heard your whole conversation, and I think I know what you're thinking. I agree with your choice, and joining her ship would be a very good idea. She has cutting edge technology, and a crew I think you will enjoy meeting. I'll send everything else I have to your omnitool, and also, I recommend taking Mike with you. He's going crazy on the ship without you, and you've barely been gone five hours."__ I nodded, even though LiLi couldn't see it, and didn't give a response, just so Shepard didn't get suspicious. Checking my omnitool as it beeped with a notification, I threw a text together. __Thanks for the info LiLi. Let Ten know she's in charge while I'm gone, and Haladrian is next in line if she needs him. Tell Mike to meet me on the Citadel at dock bay D24. I'll update you every third day. Keep my ship together.__ Sending off the message, I saw Shepard return to me. "What did you guys even discuss? I didn't even say my idea yet." Shepard rolled her eyes. "It doesn't matter, besides, I have a pretty good idea what you're going to ask." I shrugged, and craned my head around Shepard to look at Garrus and Liara, and shrugged again. "Well, Shepard, as you may have guessed, I'm going to ask to join your crew, but, with one condition. You let me bring Mike, the Clawta I was with Yesterday, with us. Don't worry, he's quite capable and I always work better with people I trust around, and don't try to bluff and say you don't need me, I know you do." Shepard rolled her eyes again, and I ignored the looks of the other two. "You know what? Fine. We do need you, I did my homework on you, well most of it anyway, and yes, again, we really do need you. Bring your friend along too, we can never have enough guns." Just like that, the deal had been done.I opened the door and said "Looks like fun outside Shepard." Fun didn't begin to describe it, because as soon as I finished my sentence, a hail of bullets flew past my face, with me just barely dodging them. "Hey Shepard, were we expecting company?" Shepard's face was confused, then exasperated. "Can't go anywhere without someone trying to kill me." Liara and Garrus both muttered something under their breaths, as I frantically pat my pockets trying to find something to kill bad guys with. Throwing my pockets inside out, I sighed, looked at Shepard, then leaned out the doorway again. "Consider this a trial by fire Shepard!" Yelling those words, I jumped out of the safety of the room while folding my wings behind my back, and threw up my hands, the steel bellow me following suit. Bullets pinging off my makeshift shield, I threw it at the nearest baddie. The sheet of metal nearly cleaved the Krogan that had been shooting at me in half, and the rest stopped firing for a few seconds, staring at their falling comrade. Then their firing resumed. I bent more metal up in front of me, nearly filling the hallway. Shepard, Liara and Garrus ran up behind the metal and Liara threw a biotic barrier around me as I lowered it to barricade height. Liara turned to me, looking slightly shocked, "I didn't know you were geokinetic!" All I could do was give her a slightly pained half smile, and say "Well now you know!" Shepard and Garrus were firing at the enemy, and I could see the strain on Liara to keep this barrier around me so I didn't get my ass shot. "Drop the barrier!" Liara followed my orders, and I jumped out from behind cover. Ripping of a chunk of barricade, I used it as a shield to close in on the few remaining attackers, Krogan of course. Another went down as I reached them, and I looked at the two bullet riddled remaining Krogan. I gave them a smile, and with a wave, part of the wall crashed down onto the Krogan with enough force to crush him. His buddy looked at me and roared, and I threw up a sheet of metal just in time for the Krogan to run headfirst into it, leaving a dent in the metal. Throwing down the metal, I heard a final shot, and the Krogan's head turned into a pile of mush. "Nice shooting Garrus!" Garrus replied with "I know!" With the fighting seemingly over I walked back to Shepard, and out of the corner of my eye, saw one of the Krogan we had thought dead, getting itself up. "Fucking Krogan" Shepard's pistol fired, and the Krogan finally went down, "Well Shepard, signing up with you is seeming like maybe it's going to be a fun ride." I would come to regret that years on, when Garrus started making Dad jokes, after Tali made my ears bleed with her singing, but I don't think I'll ever regret it, even with Shepard's threat on my life if I ever again made a joke retaining to her status as a vampire, or even the constant sabotage of the crew toilets by Kasumi, or the absolute breakage of the sewage system aboard the Normandy after Wrex had been in there. All in all though, I have to say, I'd do it again in a heartbeat. Except with maybe less Reapers, maybe just the one Reaper, just because, you know, everyone loves David.

 **Codex**

Benjamin 'Ben'

Species: Aviant

Gender: Male

Age: 182 in 2183

Birth date/month/year: 10th January 2002

Occupation: Commanding Officer of the Fortali

Description and Brief History: Benjamin is an aviant with an incredible set of wings. Benjamin's wings extend to five metres and are pitch black. Ben is the twin brother of Zoë and father of five children. Benjamin started his life in an orphanage on Tilrack. Benjamin and Zoë ran away from the orphanage and while living on the streets, they learnt combat and how to use their respective elements. Eventually Ben and Zoë were taken in by a wealthy family, and while Ben went to several schools and university, Zoë joined the military. Benjamin graduated from university, and he is an accomplished scientist. Eventually Ben decided that there was other stuff he could do, and joined the military, like his sister. Benjamin quickly rose through the ranks of the military, all the while better learning how to use his Geokinesis. After a spat with the council where several of his soldiers and friends died, Ben was discharged from the military for severe injury. Eventually Ben met a fellow scientist called Thereus. Ben and Thereus worked together for years before Ben rejoined the military after his wounds had been deemed healed. Benjamin rose through the ranks once again, until his adoptive family was murdered in the early 2130's and he dropped out of the military to take up his private research facility and do the stuff he is best at. When Benjamin met Shepard, he joined her straight off the bat, taking Mike with him, and has been with Shepard since the very beginning.

Mikah 'Mike' Read

Species: Clawta

Gender: Male

Age: 21 in 2183

Birth date/month/year: 2nd July 2162

Occupation: Squad support via sniper.

Description and Brief History: Mikah 'Mike' is a typical Clawta, except less secretive, and more willing to help save the galaxy. Mike is a large contributor to the to the little known information about Clawta. Mike carries around a sniper rifle which is personally modified to himself. Mike was recruited when he was roughly fifteen, when he was discovered as a stowaway on Benjamin's ship. One of Ben's older companions took him in and Benjamin and Mike became fast friends. Mike never knew his parents and refused to live in orphanages, preferring to live homeless. Mike learnt how to use weapons when he joined a mercenary band called 'Gen Li's Giens.' When Benjamin joined Shepard, Ben insisted that Mike join them as well, and Mike has since become close friends with Shepard. Mike accompanied Shepard and the Normandy crew on the suicide mission through the Omega four relay and was part of the ground team with Shepard on Earth in the dash to the conduit. Mike was critically injured and had to be lifted out of there, along with Garrus and the rest of the ground team, while Benjamin and Shepard continued the Dash, despite both being near mortally injured. Mike's supportive ability was discovered after saving Benjamin and Hoss when they were investigating the abductions of volus on a small frontier colony. Mike is the colour of an Earth 'tabby cat' and is taller than your average Clawta. Mike grew up on Yutro, and left when he stowed away on a shuttle belonging to a visiting Benjamin. He got onto Ben's military cruiser, and was only discovered when he had to eat. Benjamin nearly had a heart attack when he found fifteen year old Mike stowed away in his closet, until Mike showed his promise by stealing Ben's knife and stealing his MRE. Ben, impressed, allowed him to stay on the ship in exchange for help on a small recon mission. Mike performed exemplary and quickly became one of Ben's closest friends.

Species One: Aviants

Description: Aviants are almost identical to humans, except for the huge wings sprouting from their shoulder blades. Wing spans vary from tiny two metre wingspans to an average of five metres. The longest recorded wingspan is currently a pair of pitch black wings with a wingspan of over seven meters. Aviants can live to up to two thousand years, making them the longest living species in the galaxy. The Aviants also have the unique ability to control and create fire from internal cells. The Aviants have a very unique biology, as they can consume nearly any food, Turian and Quarian food included, and they have the ability to sexually reproduce with almost any race in the galaxy. In some incredibly rare cases Aviants are born with terrakinesis, control of earthly materials.

Brief History: The Aviants evolved on the rather hostile world of Tilrack, whose continents and countries and almost any land is broken up by large fissures and mountainous edges all over the planet. According to them they evolved wings from the fact that they had some sort of avian DNA in them, and the fact that their planet was the way it was, and the best way to get around was via flying. The Aviants are generally thought to be the most advanced, non-AI, race in the galaxy, and they have proved that fact many times. The Aviants were the second race to discover the Citadel, beaten only by the Asari. The reason the Aviants are not on the Citadel Council is because of the several bloody wars against the council they have been in. Aviants are still considered a Citadel race, despite nearly destroying the Turians at one point. Unfortunately, the Aviants downfall is their violent countries and city states.

Religion: Most Aviants are atheists, but some accept a religion of demon's and ghosts.

Language: Tilresh. A guttural language. Aviants have another language that is considered dead.

Government: The type of government varies from country to country, but over all this they have a government that has a large degree of control over all the others. This government is called The Senate, which is generally lead by six members along with a leader called the Arcturian.

Military Doctrine: Aviants prefer ground to space weapons and drones over having a naval fleet that fights in space. Regardless of this, the Aviants have the second biggest fleet in the galaxy, and the most advanced. The Aviants military is strict, but not as harsh as the Turian military. Aviants generally only act in defence, but the odd power hungry Arcturian will go on the attack. Aviants prefer to strike from a distance and sabotage large ships with fleets of drones, and destroying ships in orbit or close to orbit with ground to space cannons. When faced with ground forces Aviants usually stick to heavy weapons and armor, and also often using advance recon and distance fighters.

Home Planet: Tilrack

Species Three: Clawta

Description: Clawta are incredibly similar to Earth's cats. The main difference between the two is their ability to walk on two legs, talk, their much larger brain capacity, their opposable thumbs and slightly increased height. The Clawta are rather advanced for how they look, and humans often underestimate them in battle and in general. Clawta are roughly seventy five centimetres tall on average. Clawta can live up to one hundred and fifty years of age.

Brief History: The Clawta were discovered roughly one hundred ago by a crew made up of Tilsa and Asari aboard a frigate lost in space. Since then the Clawta have willingly integrated into Citadel politics and they live a quiet lifestyle, keeping mostly to themselves. The Clawta have kept most of their history to themselves, and the very little known is information from the Clawta, Mike. They evolved on a very tropical planet covered in jungle, which is where they get their resemblance to Earth cats.

Religion: Ironically to humans, Clawta worship an Avian Goddess, but very little is known about the religion itself.

Language: Mixture of hissing, spitting and growling. Some sounds resembling words.

Government: The Clawta have something very closely resembling Earths modern Democracy.

Home Planet: Yutro

Military Doctrine: The Clawta use overpowering force in one ship. They may not have many dreadnoughts, but the few they do have are incredibly powerful and well armed. When faced with ground forces Clawta use hard, swift strikes, and often use traps. No Clawta is defenseless and during the Reaper War, Clawta resorted to using teeth and claws. Clawta usually operate in small squads, and have no large military force, and never have more than one squad in one place, unless of rare cases where a larger force of about three squads is need. These squads are made up of about seven Clawta.

 **A/N So here's my first attempt at entering the Mass Effect fandom. To be honest, this is probably going to be a rubbish mess of conjoined one shots with maybe the odd several chapter length story. But hey, if you can enjoy that, you might enjoy this. Also if any of my other readers are here, I'll update my other stories about the same amount as usual (which is to say, pretty much never.) So hope you enjoyed, and other AN's will not be this long.**

 **-TheColdSpaghetti**


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